They work tirelessly all day under the harsh rays of a blazing sun, the stench of death and destruction around them. They are a team of Jewish heroes who are working around the clock with one mission: the recovery of human bodies.

The SA Friends of the Beit Halochem Zahal Disabled Veterans Organisation was established in Johannesburg in 1982, its primary goal being to help and support Zahal disabled veterans by raising funds to help them return and resume their normal lives as soon as possible.

There’s a popular weekly satirical show in Israel called Eretz Nehederet. In a recent episode, an actor playing Benny Gantz, the former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and newcomer to Israeli politics, is asked how he’s feeling.

Devotion to the cause of the State of Israel flourishes in the most unlikely places, even in societies where the Jewish presence is small to non-existent. Such is the case in Mozambique, where the work of Beth-El Associacao Crista Amigos De Israel - Mozambican Christian Friends of Israel - testifies to how much can be achieved by those inspired by their Christian faith to promote the Israeli cause, despite adverse conditions.

JNF’s unique “Blue Boy Box” now lives at King David Linksfield Pre-Primary so that children of each generation learn the importance of tzedakah (charity or welfare). It is the responsibility of Jews all over the world to build Israel, develop it and nurture it as the home of the Jewish nation

“Knowledge is Light” was our school motto when I was a child in Durban. The importance of education was made clear to us from as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t taken for granted. A good education was a privilege.

(JTA) Norwegian rapper not charged with hate speech
A Norwegian rapper who cursed Jews while performing at an event in Oslo promoting multiculturalism will not be charged with hate speech, because his words may have been criticism of Israel, prosecutors said.

Did Israeli soldiers violate international law by deliberately targeting unarmed children, journalists, health workers, and people with disabilities during the past year of violence along the Israel-Gaza border?

(JTA) After the New England Patriots beat the favoured Kansas City Chiefs to reach their third straight Super Bowl – their amazing ninth in less than 20 years – CBS sports analyst Boomer Esiason made an intriguing statement, namely that Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

We are winging our way towards Human Rights Day (21 March), the first public holiday of the year, which coincides with Purim. I can’t help but wonder about our concept of human rights and what it means, not least of all, to our government.

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed in parliament last week that South Africa intended to downgrade its diplomatic presence in Israel. The foreign affairs bureaucracy was working “feverishly” on the matter. “The decision to downgrade the embassy in Israel is informed precisely by the violation of the rights of Palestinians and we are therefore putting pressure on Israel. But at the same time, we are saying we are willing to play a role and ensure there is peace,” said Ramaphosa.

Undeterred, and in spite of the hate-filled disparagement that spewed forth when Shashi Naidoo uttered positive comments about Israel and Jews last year, Haafizah Bhamjee penned a reasoned and sensible article on Israel and the Palestinians in the SA Jewish Report of 22 February.

With Prince William’s historic visit to Israel this week, all eyes have been trained on the Jewish capital. It may have taken 70 years, but the first official visit by a member of the British Royal family began in Israel on Monday, when William, the Duke of Cambridge, arrived in Tel Aviv.

Some 5 600 emissaries (shluchim) from Chabad-Lubavitch from all over the world gathered at the Pier 8 warehouse in Brooklyn, New York this week for the opening of their four-day annual international conference and banquet, 75 years after the arrival of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from Europe.

One of the questions that haunts the story of Purim and moves silently through the lines of the Megillah is clear and chillingly simple: How could Jews have chosen to remain in Persian Shushan? It was so clearly an environment in which anti-Semitism was so prevalent that a genocide could be planned and almost implemented without comment by broader society.

“The greatness of our nation is that our people are great. We are a nation of heroes, of people with good and decent moral fibre who will not tolerate our country being plundered!” So said Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein in Pretoria this morning.“This is a struggle for accountability and justice,” Goldstein told the crowd (which included prominent Jewish CEOs like Adrian Gore, Stephen Koseff and Michael Katz). “This struggle is about sovereignty. The power of the people always triumphs in the end.”

Op-eds

Humus with Hamas: what is the ANC thinking?

South Africa woke up last week to yet another delegation of Hamas in the country. South Africa under the African National Congress (ANC) has always been the world’s “rogue democracy”, engaging with all manner of dictators and autocrats. But why the specific interest in the Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist organisation?

by
BENJI SHULMAN | Dec 13, 2018

The ANC has a long history of co-operation with the Palestinians. However, it has been with the Fatah faction connected with the Palestinian Authority (PA) located in the West Bank, which is Hamas’s rival.

The South African government supports the PA materially and diplomatically. It even recognises the Palestinian embassy here, which is funded in part by South African taxpayers.

Several years ago, the South African government invited PA President Mahmoud Abbas for a full state visit to the country, bilateral agreements were signed, and a commission of joint co-operation was established.

Although the ANC has had an informal liaison with Hamas for a long time, an official visit to the ANC in 2015 signalled the ramping up of the party’s relationship with the movement.

It wasn’t an official state visit, but Hamas leader Khaled Mashal received red carpet treatment during his stay. He was introduced to many of the important players in the country’s political matrix, including then President, Jacob Zuma.

This latest visit to the ANC’s parliamentary caucus and Hamas’s presence at the party’s policy conference last year suggest an expansion in ties.

ANC Party Whip Jackson Mthembu cast the visit as a discussion about humanitarian aid, and was careful to say that the ANC was not choosing one Palestinian faction over another. Clearly, however, there has been a shift in ANC thinking, which is being driven by a number of factors.

While the PA co-operates with Israel on security behind the scenes in the West Bank, Hamas’ frequent violent confrontations with the Israeli state have enhanced its reputation in the ANC’s eyes as a defender of Palestinian people.

The PA has international standing at institutions like the United Nations (UN). This means that it cannot be ignored, but the view inside the ANC seems to be that Hamas should also be given a seat at the table. This is important for Hamas, which is trying avoid international isolation, having recently lost a condemnation resolution at the UN.

This development also dovetails with a trend in ANC foreign policy of growing the country’s relationship with Iran. When sanctions on Iran were initially lifted, several high-level delegations visited the Islamic Republic. Guests on these tours have included Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the then Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, as well as then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. The strengthening of Hamas, which Tehran supports, can be seen as a natural result of these engagements.

Apart from international concerns, there are also strong domestic factors driving the Hamas visit. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, and particularly its more Islamist affiliates, has never been particularly enamoured with the more secular-minded, even conciliatory Fatah.

As a result, it has been pushing for better relations with extremist groups like Hamas for nearly a decade. It has been abetted in this process by the extreme left wing of the ANC, which would like ties between Israel and South Africa to be severed in their entirety.

The Hamas visit helps to fuel already strained relations between Pretoria and Jerusalem, and strengthens extremist attitudes inside the ANC.

With a national election coming up next year, the move also plays well with conservatives in the Muslim population who live in the Western Cape. The province is run by the Democratic Alliance, and is the only one in the country not controlled by the ANC. Since the ruling party’s loss of control of the Western Cape in 2009, provincial officials of the ANC have ramped up anti-Israel sentiment. This is used as a means to gain the support of this constituency. At times, the strategy has become ugly, and several ANC officials have had cases brought against them for inciting anti-Jewish hate speech.

So what does this visit mean for South African policy regarding Hamas in the future? In the short term, Hamas’ supporters will hope it goes a small way toward reducing the group’s isolation in the international community.

They will also hope that it starts to erode the ANC’s connection with Fatah positions. The memorandum of understanding signed between Hamas and the ANC supports, for example, a full boycott of Israeli products, which is not a public Fatah position.

In the long term, however, they will hope that this visit serves as a basis for the ultimate goal of getting the South African state to adopt Hamas’ maximalist positions by ceasing diplomatic ties with Israel, and removing South Africa as potential supporter of peace in the region.